Skip to main content

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is relieved Sprint and T-Mobile aren’t merging

net neutrality timeline fcc tom wheeler 2
Energy Commerce/Flickr
After months of reports suggesting Sprint would merge with T-Mobile, the Kansas City carrier supposedly decided to not go through with the deal. While Sprint and parent company SoftBank are likely unhappy about the whole affair, the opposite is true of FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, based on a brief statement the FCC released.

Related: Sprint replaces CEO as T-Mobile merger plans reportedly fall apart

In the statement, Wheeler expressed satisfaction that there will still be four major wireless carriers in the United States. With that said, Wheeler also advised Sprint to use this opportunity to improve its offerings in order to better compete with T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.

“Four national wireless providers are good for American consumers,” said Wheeler. “Sprint now has the opportunity to focus [its] efforts on robust competition.” Sprint’s first big opportunity to do so would likely be next year, when it will have the opportunity to bid on spectrum in the 600MHz band.

While Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile seems like it’s dead, the decision to cancel the deal reportedly has nothing to do with French telecommunications firm Iliad’s $15 billion bid on T-Mobile, though both companies are currently in talks to find a way forward. As for Sprint, it will likely continue to focus on expanding its Spark service for the short term.

Related: Net neutrality is under threat from the FCC: what it is and how we got here

Meanwhile, the FCC already has its hands full with the topic of net neutrality. Recently, President Obama went on the offensive at a summit, saying that his administration doesn’t support the idea of Internet fast lanes, something the FCC proposed back in May.

Editors' Recommendations

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
T-Mobile subscribers can get MLS Season Pass for free
MLS Season Pass on an iPhone.

T-Mobile today announced that it's giving its subscribers MLS Season Pass for free. The service — which gets you every MLS game this season, along with other attached leagues — normally costs $100 for the season, or $15 a month.

T-Mobile subscribers (and Metro by T-Mobile customers) will be able to add MLS Season Pass via the T-Mobile Tuesdays app starting on February 21.

Read more
Here’s another big reason why T-Mobile 5G dominates AT&T and Verizon
T-Mobile smartphone.

T-Mobile continues to command a massive lead in offering the best 5G experience among U.S. carriers. A few weeks ago, a report from Ookla revealed that T-Mobile is leaving its rivals in the dust; now Opensignal has confirmed that not only is the Un-carrier’s lead increasing in raw speeds, but it’s leading the way in taking 5G into the mainstream.

According to Opensignal’s latest 5G Experience Report, T-Mobile not only offers the fastest 5G experience in the U.S. by a sizeable margin but on average, customers on T-Mobile spend nearly 50% of their time on the carrier’s 5G network.
Reaching for the best 5G coverage

Read more
T-Mobile suffers massive data breach … again
The T-Mobile logo on a smartphone.

T-Mobile said on Thursday it has suffered a data breach involving 37 million customer accounts.

The mobile carrier discovered the breach on January 5 and took action “within 24 hours.”

Read more